God dealt and continues to deal with Israel on two levels. Nationally and individually. When the majority of them rejected the truth of Jesus they were set aside. They could not accept the truth that God’s way was better than their own. Now, for the most part, they are blinded for a period until the time of the Gentiles is finished.
Romans 11:7-12 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 Just as it is written:
“God has given them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day.”
9 And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them. 10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, And bow down their back always.”
Israel’s Rejection Not Final
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
Romans 11:25-29 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.” 28
Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
In God’s timing the eyes of the Israelites will be opened. Israel will accept Jesus their Messiah King.
Acts 15: 6-11 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. 7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”
Acts 15:-17 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: 16 ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; 17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the Lord who does all
The Jerusalem Council established that in Christ the Gentiles could be saved by the grace of God.
In Christ there there is neither Jew nor Gentiles, slave nor free, male nor female, we are united in the grace of God in the sacrifice of Jesus. We stand in the suspension of time that brought in the promises to Abraham that he would be a blessing to all nation.
Amos 9:13-15 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. 14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. 15 I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.
The promises of God will always come to pass. The remnant of His chosen people will reap them when they accept Jesus as their King.
Romans 11:25-29 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Peter recalled his vision of the sheet and that all could be gathered. He was not to call anyone unclean for all could be saved in the blood of the Lamb. For God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die for us, not to condemn the world, but that in Him the world could be saved (John 3:16-17) Carla
If believers do not understand this mystery, chances are they will be wise in their own opinion, meaning they will be haughty (verse 20) and boast (verse 18). The mystery is that Israel has been temporarily and partially hardened, but God has not rejected them. All Israel does not mean that every individual in the nation will turn to the Lord. It means that the nation as a whole will be saved, just as the nation as a whole (but not every individual in it) was now rejecting the Lord. The Jews are enemies in that they reject the gospel. For the sake of the fathers refers to the promises God made to the patriarchs. Irrevocable means “not to repent.” God does not change His mind. He made promises to the patriarchs (verse 28) and He will fulfill them. The NKJV Study Bible
In this context mystery probably refers to three difficult issues that Paul discusses in the passage: Israel’s partial hardening, the inclusion of the Gentiles as part of God’s people, and Israel’s future role in God’s plan of salvation. Paul hopes that the Gentile Christians will not become proud or boastful of their inclusion into the people of God. Full number of the Gentiles alludes to predictions that one day all nations will worship Yahweh (Isaiah 2:2–4; Zechariah14:16–17; Matthew 28:19–20). All Israel also could refer to the completion of the mission to reach all people with the gospel. Paul viewed his ministry to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) as integral to the fulfillment of this plan (Romans 15:24, 28). The deliverer will come may refer to the nation of Israel proper—whether all of Abraham’s natural descendants, or only the elect individuals within ethnic Israel. Alternatively, it could refer to Israel as symbolic of God’s elect—all who are now part of God’s people (both Jews and Gentiles). Paul’s meaning here is widely disputed. Any interpretation has far-reaching implications for the Jews and their place in God’s future plans. “All Israel” may include all who had faith like Abraham prior to Jesus’ coming, or Paul could be looking ahead to a future conversion when the entire nation of Israel accepts Jesus as Messiah. “All Israel” also could be understood as a symbolic group (of Jews and Gentiles), since Paul envisions all of God’s elect as part of a single tree (verse 17).
A quotation from Isaiah 59:20 while this passage originally refers to Yahweh, Paul seems to apply it to Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Zion refers to Jerusalem. Here, it might point to the heavenly Jerusalem from where Christ will return as deliverer (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Faithlife Study Bible
Isaiah 59:20–21 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”Says the LORD.“As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.”
Isaiah 27:9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered;And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin:When he makes all the stones of the altarLike chalkstones that are beaten to dust,Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.
Deuteronomy 7:8 but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:15 The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
Jeremiah 31:31–34 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD…
Speaking words of courage in frightening times with her column “My Day,” Eleanor Roosevelt spilled light. And she admitted that her indefatigable service for us to be our better selves was an antidote to loneliness, anxiety and the periods of depression she called “Griselda moods.” (Smiling, knowing that I’ll be borrowing that expression.)
So yes. Wholeheartedness flows even from the broken places, from places where we may feel fragmented and vulnerable.
True, my mood often tells me otherwise. My mood tells me to guard my heart.
But what I’m learning is that the easiest way to take care of your heart, is to give it away. Today I am glad for any reminder that “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” (Irish Proverb).
Today, in a world where cruelty is unmistakable, I am glad for any reminder of the capacity to be fully human, tender, vulnerable and kindhearted.
Today, I am glad for any reminder that the human world of helping is larger than our fear or anxiety or our ego. Excerpt from “Sabbath Moments” Terry Hershey.
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” Marcus Aurelius
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